Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
OVER HALF OF the young people detained in Oberstown Children Detention Campus have a “mental health need” and one in eight have substance misuse problems, a study of the detainees has found.
The survey is the first of its kind in the campus and it was conducted over the first this months of this year.
“As well as offering insights into offending and sentencing, the data highlights the level of adversity and trauma young people have experienced, including the loss of parents, neglect and abuse, and multiple care placements,” the report said.
A total of 69 young people, all male, between the ages of 14 and 18, were detained in Oberstown during the time the survey took place.
Of the 69 males, 46 were Irish (66%), 16 were Irish travellers (23%), four were EU nationals (6%), two were African and one was of mixed ethnicity.
Mental wellbeing
A total of 38 of the young people (55%) had a mental health need, the report found.
Of these 38, a total of 22 had a past or current diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and another 17 were classified as having child protection concerns.
A total of 22 of the 69 males had at one time been prescribed medication (almost exclusively for ADHD).
Meanwhile, 78% of young people in the centre were considered to have substance misuse problems and 37% had self-harm concerns.
Abuse and neglect
Almost half (42%) of the young people were considered to be at risk of abuse or neglect. Prior to detention, there were children protection concerns in regard to 29 of the 69 males.
Of the 29 with child protection concerns, the risk came from within their own families for 25 of them. Furthermore, 17 of the 29 had previously been in care and three had a significant involvement with Tusla.
54% of all the detainees had suffered the loss of one or both parents either through death, imprisonment or no long-term contact. In one case, both parents had died.
Education
Prior to detention, a striking 49 young people had not been engaging in detention. Just 10 young people were found to have been in education, while a no information was available for a further 10 of the detainees.
Of the 49 not engaging in education prior to detention, 32 had exhibited challenging behaviour and 41 had substance misuse concerns.
Of all detainees, 36% had some form of a diagnosed learning disability, and for a further 23%, there was evidence of learning difficulties.
“The findings here confirm that young people in detention have a wide range of complex needs often requiring a holistic, multi-agency response,” the report said.
By understanding the origins, needs and trajectories of these young people, it is hoped that the necessary services and interventions can assist them to move on from their offending behaviour.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
There choice to get sent there….
@Paul: Is it a choice to have the neurological disorder ADHD, a condition that affects impulsivity, causes those affected to act first and think later (32%). Is it a choice to have a mental health problem (55%)? Is it a choice to have a learning disability (36%) or learning difficulty (22% i.e. an IQ below 70)? Is it a choice to be at risk of neglect or abuse (47%)? Is it a choice to be born into a background of poverty or criminality?
@David Jordan: all very well but the vast majority of people in the world diagnosed with these issues and have steered clear of the wrong side of the law. So by your reasoning does it mean that the other ones in there are just simply bad people or shall we draw up an excuse for each and everyone. If it were the case that their mental health problems/learning disabilities/learning difficulty reduced their mental age capacity or hampered it in a way they could not differentiate between right and wrong they tm would not be in a facility like Oberstown. Oberstown is for criminals under the age of 18. Would you be signing off the same hymn sheet if they had robbed your car or held a knife to your mother’s throat and took her pension?
@Paul: absolutely, just like it was your choice not to be educated. The word is spelled ‘Their’.
I’ll elaborate…. look at those vulnerable children over (there)’. (They’re) alone in (their) rooms without any parental guidance through no fault of their own.
3 versions of the same sounding word.
Seems your lack of education is not solely limited to poor spelling. Perhaps research what the potential effects of broken homes, abusive parents, alcohol related issues, lack of parental support etc have in young children.
Hope you receive the help you need (Night classes perhaps?), just as I hope these children receive the help they themselves need.
@David Jordan:
And just so we are clear ADHD can sometimes (not always) affect impulsivity. It’s more to do with an inability to maintain persistent attention to tasks etc along with hyperactivity, hence the name. It’s far too easy nowadays to throw out a few letters and dismiss people’s actions as a result.
@Paul: *their
@Paul: “Their”
@David Jordan: The most serious well known disorder that these kids suffer from is BOLD.
@David Jordan: oh and to your last line maybe we should start looking at that and that decisions should be taken brfore the birth of a child to determine whether prospective parents(s) have the required “where with all” to safely bring up a child.
Never ceases to amaze me that people can be so sympathetic to children in abusive and non-loving homes but as soon as those children reach an age of about 14 all that sympathy goes straight out the window.
Small children that don’t get the same start in life that others take for granted WILL grow up to be potentially criminals. They don’t just suddenly “learn” the right way to function in society if they’ve never been taught.
And yet there seems to be a distinct reticence by many to fund early intervention and parental assistance. There seems to be a feeling that the parents don’t deserve help with the added bonus of the child grows into an adult that “doesn’t deserve help”.
And so the wheel turns.
@Tricia Golden: Many of these teenagers come from criminal homes. Grandfather’s, Fathers, Brothers, Uncles and Cousins, many been have and are involved in criminal activities. For them crime is as natural as going to work is for you.
@Tricia Golden: The percentages are frightening. Travellers represent 23% of the inmates but are only 0.6% of the general population. This is a huge figure and it’s screaming at us to get this “Culture” removed with education and good role models. This way of life costs us taxpayers tens on millions a year but we are still not addressing the problem !
@Ser Barristan Selmy: Well done missing my point.
I am specifically pointing to early intervention, supplying good role models and providing advice and assistance to parents long before these children reach the stage where the penal system needs to “teach them”.
I will concede that “will” versus “potentially” but I suspect it doesn’t detract from my overall point beyond giving you something to focus on apart from my main argument.
@Richard Wright: Did I say that or is it that what you yourself are thinking?
@Richard Wright: Firstly you are assuming that I am Christian yet know nothing about me, secondly you are assuming I am writing anyone off instead of making a factual point. Anymore assumptions you would like to jump to?
@Ser, did you even read the article? No, at 14 if the “scrotes” as you call them, have NOT learned social norms. If they’re living with parents who couldn’t give a cr*p about them, where drinking or doing drugs, neglecting them, then of course they’re never going to learn what’s ok because they’ve never seen it. As for the penal system teaching them, you are out of your mind. None of this addresses the issues or fixes the problem. Does this mean we should have group hugs and candlelight vigils? No. But perhaps putting in better structures, early intervention and a social care system that works beyond 5pm on a Friday, May be places to start.
No, Ser, they don’t. If they’ve never been taught it, and shown it, they can’t pick it up by osmosis
@Richard Wright: A discussion between a mental health expert (West Cork Lad) and Mick Jordan,on this very topic..Maybe this will give you a better insight into Micks thoughts on these children…
http://www.thejournal.ie/special-care-unit-hiqa-2302413-Aug2015/#comments
@Ser Barristan Selmy: Read that article in the link that I just put up,as It might help to answer the question that you just asked of Jeannette…
Ser, early intervention and a well staffed, proper social services Dept that opens beyond 5pm on a Friday. As to knowing right from wrong and it’s full implications, we wouldn’t expect a child who was never spoken to, to be able to speak.
@Ser Barristan Selmy: My bad.I asked you to read the article.I should have said the comments section of it…
Think a free hug session is over due.
The poor darlings
Plenty of kids and adults with adhd successful in life and not robbing backsterds and burglars and car thief’s….. And I’ve no doubt the state did all it could for them by giving them free access to doctors medication councillors. Unlike the ones who pay for it
Where is Paul Murphy’s contribution on all of this ?
We’re in the process of creating our own home grown terrorist problem.
This chaos has to stop. Reopen St. Pats for god sake…..
have your say